CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.05.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CVS shares. UBS Group downgraded CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of CVS Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective on CVS Health from $95.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $78.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CVS Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,092,040,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,691,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,660,298,000 after buying an additional 10,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 573.8% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,553,457 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $442,944,000 after buying an additional 4,729,207 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in CVS Health by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,776,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,491,643,000 after buying an additional 3,232,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in CVS Health by 306.6% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,046,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $240,529,000 after buying an additional 2,297,100 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Performance

Shares of CVS opened at $60.03 on Friday. CVS Health has a 12 month low of $52.77 and a 12 month high of $83.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $75.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.52.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $88.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. CVS Health had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.53%. CVS Health’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CVS Health will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. CVS Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.75%.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services.